Akan and Yoruba Religious Acts (Research Paper Sample)

Yoruba and Akan Belief in God
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Africa native religions are difficult to generalize due to the diversity in them. However, some communities share common stories regarding their origin. They have a belief in a supreme creator who is above other smaller gods. They have the belief in power and intervention of ancestral spirits. They practice Sacrifices and libation for divine generosity and protection. Various rites of passage are passed on to the members of the communities to initiate them from one stage to another for instance childhood to adulthood. Humanity in African communities is a harmonizing relationship between nature and supernatural forces.
Yoruba is one of the many ethnic groups found in Nigeria. They live southwest of Nigeria. The Yoruba are a very religious group of people. Their beliefs and religious practices cannot be underestimated. They believe the world has the visible world for the living and the spiritual world. Their supreme creator is Eleda in the Yoruba language. They think he lives in the skies. They also have chief gods who represent various things. They include the Aganju, who is in charge of the volcanoes and rivers. They have the Ayao in charge of the air. There is also the Obatala in charge of human bodies, light, and moral uprightness and not forgetting Osua the god who is involved in intimacy, wealth, love and beauty. They expect one to grow spiritually, and those who diverge from spiritual growth are destined for misfortunes.
One of the religious elements of the Yoruba is covenant keeping. Covenant is an agreement between two parties that comes with conditions and if broken it has serious consequences. The Yoruba people hold dearly to covenant keeping, and this is what has made their ties strong. Religiously, they expect one to be in covenant with his or her God. In Yoruba community, they take covenants in front of religious emblems. They mostly refer to them as oaths and various parties, for example, can take them between a wife and a husband, between two friends. Between two friends, they can come to agreement by talking later sealed by a fruit known as kola nut, which is an important fruit in the spiritual life of the Yoruba community. It is a taboo to speak ill of a person after sharing this fruit. If you break such a covenant, they believe it brings misfortunes such as death or diseases.
Another example is a covenant between a husband and his wife. The pact between this two is a secret between them. The man cuts himself usually the left arm, and the woman does the same. Then, they each rub a kola nut on the blood and exchange for eating, and it becomes an oath. In general, religious objects that expect one to swear before representing their gods because they believe there is instant justice in this unlike in Christianity or Muslim religions where there is judgment day. It also instills fear. Kings and chiefs take oaths accompanied by ceremonies and breaking them has serious repercussions. Divination is something they hold dearly. It is connected to the god of divination known as Ifa. He is a wise man who serves as an interpreter between all gods and humans. Only men would become diviners if your father were one or if they revealed to you through divination the Yoruba community. Divination is a way of getting to know why misfortunes are befalling someone, and it is only after they take rituals that the problem is found. The Yoruba have a rich religious culture and have upheld to it.
One finds the Akan people of Ghana and Ivory Coast. They consist of the Fante and Ashanti people. There are also other small tribes in the Akan such as the Atlanta, Akwamu, and Anyi. The Akan have common religious beliefs. Ashanti is the most influential in the Akan. The Ashanti have developed their unique science of the origin and development of the universe popularly known as cosmology hence referring the Akan religion to as Asyanti religion (Parrinder, 2014). They believe in the world of spirits and the world of human. They believe in a supreme creator whom they refer to as Odomankoma, who lives in the skies. They also believe in chief gods who help them on earth. They have a general name known as Abosom. Abosom receive their powers from their supreme creator (Brekyirihunuade). Priests are also placed under Abosom, and they act as mediators between the Abosom and human beings. Some of their rituals include pouring of libations.
The Abosom are in three categories, namely, the state gods, clan gods and gods of the medicine man. However, worship of the ancestors is more than the Abosom. The Akan believe in divine providence from the supreme creator, and it is for that reason that they do not have objects representing the supreme creator (Opukuwaa, 2005). The Akan believe that every Abosom has a duty. For example some help in matters of agriculture, others fertility and health where local herbs were used to improve the fertility of women and others at combating negative influence of witches. The community believes the Abosom inhabit natural objects like water and rocks. For one to become an ancestor; it was compulsory that you live an exemplary life of honor. Life started from childhood to initiated adult to marriage then elder. If the elder had a high reputation, he would become an ancestor. Rituals done served as a linkage between the living and the dead. Songs and dances accompanied them.
The ancestors punished those who are evil and reward those who do well in the community. Akan also believe in lower spirits powers known as Amman. They come in the form of beads and amulets worn on the wrist, neck or around the waist. They believe that these charms give them some protection from evil beings that are considered to manipulate the spirits for evil purposes....